Linearity (video games)

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Assassin's Creed is a video game that allows a great deal of non-linear gameplay.

Linearity describes the sequence of challenges required to finish a video or computer game. A more linear game will confront a player with a fixed sequence of challenges, while a less linear game will allow greater player freedom. For example, a nonlinear game may permit multiple sequences to finish the game, a choice between paths to victory, or optional side-quests and subplots. A game typically features both linear and nonlinear elements.

A game that is noticeably nonlinear will sometime be described as open-ended, or as a sandbox.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4] Nonlinear games are sometimes described as providing emergent gameplay.^[4]

1 Description
2 References

[edit] Description

[edit] Story and plot

A more linear game will feature a fixed plot in a single sequence. Most games feature a linear storyline.

In a truly nonlinear game, there often is no story.^[5] A truly nonlinear story will be written entirely by the actions of the player, and is thus a difficult design challenge.^[5] As such, nonlinear stories usually preserve the overall story arc while allowing multiple solutions to a specific challenge, or a choice between multiple challenges.

[edit] Level design

A game level or world can be linear or nonlinear as well. In a game with linear levels, there is only one route that the player must take through the level. In games with nonlinear levels, players might have to revisit locations or choose from multiple paths to finish the level.

As with other game elements, linear level design is not absolute. While a nonlinear level may offer players the freedom to explore or backtrack, there still may be a fixed sequence of challenges that a player must solve in order to complete the level. Even if a player must confront the challenges in a fixed sequence, they may be given the freedom to seek and identify these challenges without having them presented one after the other.

A more linear game will require a player to finish every single level in a fixed sequence in order to win. The ability to skip, repeat, or choose between levels will make a game less linear. When a level is sufficiently large and open-ended, it may be described as a sandbox.^[6]^[7]

[edit] Sandbox mode

In a game with a sandbox mode, a player may turn off or ignore game objectives.^[8] This term is used to describe a mode or option in otherwise goal oriented games, and should be distinguished from open-ended games with no objectives such as Sim City.^[8]

The sandbox mode is featured prominently in the Grand Theft Auto franchise.^[8] These and other games with virtual environments that the player may explore are also known as open world games.^[9] Other games where players may ignore the game objectives and explore the world as a sandbox include Freelancer, ^[10] and Crackdown.^[9]